Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 15, 2026

An Affordable HIV-1 Drug Resistance Monitoring Method for Resource Limited Settings
Published on: March 30, 2014
Exploring the availability and accessibility of medication abortion pills in Nepal pharmacies: Reported versus actual
Nished Rijal1, Angel M Foster2
1Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Objectives:
The Nepal government allows medication abortion pills to be dispensed from pharmacies if the patient has a prescription. We aimed to assess the availability of medication abortion pills, with and without a prescription, from pharmacies and the provision practices of pharmacy workers in Eastern Nepal.
Study Design:
We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 489 pharmacy workers to document knowledge, availability, and provision practices related to medication abortion pills. After a month, we revisited 180 pharmacies using a mystery client approach to understand actual provision practices. We analyzed these data with descriptive statistics.
Results:
Pharmacy workers in about 16% (n = 28/180) of surveyed pharmacies reported selling medication abortion pills. In contrast, mystery clients obtained these pills without a prescription in more than one-third (n = 69/180, 38%) of their visits. All mystery clients obtained mifepristone and misoprostol either through combination packages (n = 59/69, 86%) or in separate packages (n = 10/69, 14%). Mystery clients paid an average of 1062 Nepali Rupees (NRS) (approximately USD8), about 1.6 times more than the NRS654 (approximately USD5) price reported during the survey. Pharmacy workers asked mystery clients questions about gestational age to confirm pregnancy status and provided information on the timing of use and possible side effects.
Conclusions:
Despite the current regulatory status, our findings suggest mifepristone and misoprostol are available without a prescription in about two out of five community pharmacies in Eastern Nepal. Supporting efforts to ensure women seeking medication abortion pills from pharmacies have up-to-date and medically accurate information appears warranted.
Implications:
Pharmacies are increasingly becoming key players in the community-based distribution of mifepristone/misoprostol in Nepal. Supporting pharmacy workers to provide medication abortion pills without a prescription at scale could advance equitable access to abortion care. Ensuring appropriate training for pharmacy workers is essential to safeguard service quality and safety.
More Related Videos
09:04Comprehensive Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Safety of Placenta-Targeted Drug Delivery Using Three Complementary Methods
Published on: September 10, 2018
05:35Author Spotlight: Developing a Point-of-Care Hemoglobin Estimation Method for Anemia Management
Published on: January 19, 2024
Related Concept Videos
Prescription, Nonprescription and Orphan Drugs
The misuse and addiction to prescription drugs is a growing problem that can affect people of all age groups, specifically teenagers. This can happen when prescription medications are used in ways not intended by the prescriber, such as taking someone else's prescription or using medication for...
Pharmaceutical Alternatives: Polymorphic Form-Related and Particle Size-Related Therapeutic Nonequivalence
Pharmacovigilance
This process, termed pharmacovigilance, aims to detect, evaluate, and minimize harmful effects related to medication use. The data collection for pharmacovigilance depends on spontaneous reporting systems, where healthcare professionals or patients voluntarily report suspected ADRs.
In some cases, there...
Measurement of Bioavailability: Pharmacodynamic Methods
Drug Control Governance: Regulatory Bodies and Their Impact
Drug Regulation